LECTURES: Wed, February 13, 2013

The changing urban landscape of Los Angeles provides an ongoing challenge to the notions of what constitute the modern city. Essentially an adolescent city, with its future being pulled by competitive and contradictory forces, the city of Los Angeles provides a unique opportunity as a study for global urban redevelopment. Contemplating the effect that individual buildings have on the City, and the broader effect the City has in impacting the nature of each individual building, is a dialogue that is often overlooked in Architectural academic discourse.

Dense city architecture inherently deals with the most complex of building types, as the ratio of use to land area is exponentially increased. The intense interaction of Economic, Social, Political, Ecological and Technological forces converge on a scale that demand multi-disciplinary review and collaboration. The City Chair at SCI-Arc is a commitment to the study of these issues, not only the City of Los Angeles, but of Cities around the world through the lens of the creative community at SCI-Arc.

Tom Gilmore was trained in architecture and design, and headed a small architecture firm in New York before moving to Los Angeles in the early 90’s. Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Gilmore became involved in real estate and development in the Downtown area. In 1998, Gilmore began to contemplate the effect that a new residential population would have on an otherwise moribund Downtown. He formed his own development firm, Gilmore Associates along with his Partner, Jerri Perrone.

Gilmore’s vision of a vibrant urban community would largely be developed along with the proposal and passage of the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance in 1999. Gilmore’s goal of creating a new, vibrant, and sustainable Downtown led him to purchase a number of abandoned historic buildings, all of which are located in Downtown Los Angeles, and converted them into mixed-use loft developments which have now been designated the “Old Bank District.” As the first developer to utilize the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance in Los Angeles, Gilmore is recognized as a driving force in the redevelopment of Los Angeles’ urban spaces and a major catalyst for Downtown’s revival and great residential boom.